Barrett	Geller
Cosgrove	Kopeski

AMHERST, Mass. -- The Bates College men's lacrosse team came all the way back from a 6-1 deficit to tie Amherst College 7-7 on Saturday at Gooding Field, but the Lord Jeffs pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 11-7 NESCAC victory.

Senior Sam Geller (Berkeley, Calif.) and junior David Barrett (Chatham, N.J.) scored two goals apiece for the Bobcats (2-6, 0-4 NESCAC), while sophomore Rory Cosgrove (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added a goal and an assist.

Bates opened the game with a quick unassisted goal by Cosgrove less than a minute after the opening whistle. Amherst responded with a goal of their own six minutes later, when Brett Miller found Tom McDonnell on the crease for the equalizer.

Amherst (4-3, 2-2 NESCAC) embarked on a 5-0 run, fueled by winning six straight face-offs. The last goal of Amherst's streak came with 29 seconds on the clock in the first quarter, when Matt Rawson beat his man and found a cutting Rob Denious in front of the crease.

The second quarter saw Amherst give up another quick goal, with sophomore Evan Bagley (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) converting an assist by senior Alex Cronstein (New York, N.Y.) 1:29 in. After Geller closed the gap to 6-3 goal minutes later, Amherst responded as Miller found Tim Thornton for a goal.

The third quarter started just like the two before it, with Bates scoring early on a Cosgrove feed to Barrett just 1:25 in. The score sparked a 4-0 Bates rally, with sophomore Garrett Kopeski (Westfield, Mass.) and Geller scoring unassisted, capped by Barrett's second goal on a man-up advantage, which tied the game at 7-7 with 6:05 left in the third quarter.

Luke Arnold broke the deadlock by picking up a ground ball and sniping the upper corner with an underhand bomb. With seven minutes left, Arnold stole a clearing pass and found McDonnell on the crease for an empty net score. Arnold and Evan Redwood each added one more goal to bring the final score to 11-7 Amherst.

Pietroforte finished the game with 14 saves, while Bates first-year Adam Scharff (Glyndon, Md.) finished with nine saves.

Bates plays at Tufts on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in another NESCAC contest.

STATS: Amherst 11, Bates 7